iPad Mini: Five Reasons Apple Should Release It

Steve Jobs famously described miniature tablets as "dead on arrival" in a 2010 earnings call. While that may be true, he also told Tim Cook shortly before his premature death: "Never ask what he would do, just do what's right", citing the paralysis that struck the The Walt Disney Company following the death of its founder.

So it's no surprise then that rumors of a seven-inch screen mini iPad persist. It's on again, it's off again. A friend of a friend of a worker at a factory swears it's true. Putting all of the rumor-mongering around its existence aside, what would a brand-new, miniature iPad do for entertainment and, more importantly, mobile gaming?

A Lighter, Cheaper Load

It took us at least a fortnight to work up the nerve to leave the house with our iPads as a matter of course. These things don't come cheap, and while we wouldn't exactly expect a mini version of the best-selling hardware to cost pocket-money, we'd certainly feel a lot more comfortable about throwing a smaller version of it in our bags (or even our pockets) before going to the office, and without the worry of dragging it out in the evenings. We love gaming on the bigger screen of the iPad, but we wouldn't say no to something somewhere in the middle.

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New Life For Old Tech

While it's one of our favorite iOS devices, the iPod Touch has lost something of its way within the Apple family at large, and the iPhone's become the more natural purchase given the mobile's obvious additional advantages. A mini iPad would make a great replacement for the device, and provide a natural bridge between Apple's smallest and largest screens.